Dallas Stars Blog

Stars’ top line delivers in clutch

The old hockey adage that says “Your best players have to be your best players” couldn’t be more true for the Stars right now.

With captain Brenden Morrow missing his 13th game with back, neck and shoulder pain, and Jamie Benn missing his sixth game with a leg laceration, a Dallas team that is in the bottom five in payroll has relied heavily on the top line of Loui Eriksson, Mike Ribeiro and Michael Ryder.

And that line came through again Sunday.

Ribeiro fed Ryder for a key power-play goal in the final two minutes of the second period. Ribeiro tipped in Alex Goligoski’s slap pass to tie the game in the final minute of the third period. And Eriksson won it on a one-timer in overtime.

Eriksson leads the team with 55 points. Ryder leads with 25 goals, and Ribeiro is third with 47 points.

“The last goal, what a play, and then Ribby made a great pass to Ryder and he executed it on that first goal,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “The one thing about those guys is that they can make those types of plays … and we need them to.”

Gulutzan has juggled combinations all season, but he has been pretty much forced to load up his top line right now. The trio hasn’t disappointed.

Since Benn’s injury, Ribeiro has eight points (2G, 6A), Eriksson has seven points (3G, 4A), Ryder has six points (4G, 2A) and the Stars are 4-1-1 without the player who leads them in points per game and represented them at the NHL All-Star Game.

“We’ve all played together before, and it’s just come together for us,” Ryder said. “We’re just trying to get in a rhythm and make smart, simple plays, and it’s paying off for us.”

Gulutzan on Sunday leaned heavily on the line, as each forward was around 23 minutes in ice time (and that was with just 2:48 in power-play time apiece).

“We’re not getting the power-play time like we were before, but we don’t let it bother us,” Ryder said. “If we get out there on a regular roll, then that’s fine with us. It seems to help us when we play at even strength and take a regular shift.”

Benn is hoping to return Wednesday against Pittsburgh, while Morrow said he could start skating by the end of this week.

Briefly: Philip Larsen returned to play after leaving Friday’s game with a head laceration. He played 20:47. … Stars D Sheldon Souray played in his 700th regular-season game. … The Stars are 6-0-1 against Canadian-based teams. … The Stars had 29 hits, with Steve Ott, Eric Nystrom and Mike Ribeiro each collecting four. … D Trevor Daley has assists in four straight games. … Vancouver was 26-0-0 when leading after two periods, so Dallas broke that streak. The Canucks continue to get at least a point out of a game they are leading after two periods. Vancouver is 92-0-4 in the last 96 games when leading after two periods.